We took delivery of a 2008 Cameo F35SB3 in August 2007 (yes 2007). This past July we took a cross country trip from NC to Seattle, Wa and back. While on the trip both the door side and off-door side slide out's broke. Would not come in. Loud popping noise. After a call to Carriage we were told to round up a few big guys and "push it in" while holding the slide switch in. We did get the slides in but did not want to take the chance of putting them out for the rest of the trip.
For those of you who have a F35SB3, you know you can not get to anything from the middle of the 5ver back so we put out the off-door slide enough to get by.
We have been working with Carriage for about a month now to get the problems resolved. The RV is unusable at this point. We do not totaly blame Carriage for the slow response because we are using a non-Carriage RV service Center. Carriage approved this and have assured us the problems will be resolved. The biggest problem we have is there is not a Carriage dealer in our area that we trust to do the repairs. We had previously taken the Cameo in to the local (60 miles away) dealer and they did more damage than good. Thus the reason Carriage has allowed us to go to another dealer.
We love the RV and still think it is one of the best 5ver's on the market but are starting to lose our patience. The lack of nearby quality Carriage service centers is a big concern. Will post back when repairs are complete.
By the way. We are told the slide out gear box on both slides have to be replaced. We are wondering if we just got two bad gear boxes or is this going to be a continuing problem. Stay tuned.
2008 Cameo by Carriage F35SB3
2004 Ford King Ranch 6.0 Turbo Diesel
Air-Lift bags with onboard compressor
My 35sb3 is in shop for 2nd time for slide gear issues. This time its the fridge slide. 1st was the door slide. I have an early 08 model. They told me there putting in non updated motors and gears. Otherwise I love the RV. I hope this is not an ongoing problem.
I just got the RV from service and the slides are working great. They now move about twice as fast as they did before. Time will tell if there are any future problems. So nice to have the Cameo back. Ready to hit the road again.
There is a good possibility you have seen this message elsewhere. Since I can't seem to find the answers on line, hoping someone can direct me. And I have been doing more research which is bringing up more questions than answers.
We ordered a 2007 Cameo F35FD3 with dual pane windows and generator prep - the GVWR of the unit is 16,124 with Load E tires and 7,000 axles. And yes, both of our main slides have broken more than once so it isn't just the 2008 that have problems. Back to the current issue...have any of you really looked at your tires and the Load ratings? We had a tire come apart on the "off door" side (heavy slide) of the trailer and the door slide tires are bulging.
Carriage says that 20-25% of the weight of the trailer should be on the hitch pin BUT in reading others sites, Trailer Life included, the recommended is 15-18% so would prefer to keep at no more than 20%. Okay at 20%, that means there is still 12,899 lbs on the axles/tires.
Tire manufactures recommend 85% max of the recommended load so if tires have a recommended load of 3,520 lbs, the tires technically should not exceed 2,992 lbs. or 11,968 total.
According to Carriage they figure the tire ratings using the Axle Weight (Factory Dry Weight at Axles) which for our trailer is 10,033 lbs (which is below the recommended 85%). But the UVW (Factory Dry Weight of Unit) is 12,157 lbs. (which is above the recommended 85%). And we had the trailer weighed - without full holding tanks because we only travel with 1/3 to 1/2 of fresh water and dump the holding tanks before leaving campground and no perishable food or clothing - trailer weighed 14,040.
I spoke with an Engineer today - NO he doesn't work for a trailer manufacturer but he does work for General Electric - the jet engine guys and I asked him to try and explain the above to me. He reviewed the data sheet provided by Carriage...if a jet plane had the same type specs, the plane would not leave the hanger because the tires would explode on landing (his explanation for me to understand).
I saw a 2008 Carri-Lite with a GVWR of 17,024 lbs with 7,000 lb axles and Load G tires. There is only a 924 lb difference between the trailers so why the different load rated tires?
Why isn't the GVWR used as the determining factor for tires minus 15% for hitch weight?
Why isn't there standards that the RV industry across the board follows?
Why isn't there a lemon law in each state for RVs? I believe Washington State is the only one currently. The slide outs and tires have not been our only issue. The rear end cap spidered in two different spots; the awning cannot stay aligned and does not shut properly; the corners cracked on the rear inside of the coach; because of the slide outs, the carpet and lineolum have to be replaced; and many minor details.
And what is so frustrating...we ordered it...we didn't buy it off the lot.
And I don't have to worry about the truck - it is a F450 which was ordered AFTER we found out the trailer weighed in excess of 12,500 which was the max for our F350.
We have an '08 Cameo F35SBC3 and last week had the second slide out drive repaired at the factory service center. There appears to have been a problem with the gears. This time we were told this is about the 3rd version replacement gear drive. This time the slide out works faster and smoother than it ever has.
I have a 2006 Cameo with the "old" slide drive system. No problems whatsoever. However, I know a few Carri-lite owners who have 2007 and 2008 models who have had multiple drives replaced. Apparently, Carriage (or more likely RBW) changed the design to speed up the slide mechanism. Unlike the old system, the new motor/gear assembly has no gear lash adjustment and seems to chew teeth off at a fairly regular basis.
I've also learned that the Carriage service manager finely got to see one fail in the "wild" (at the Carriage Grand National Rally) - maybe a better fix will be forth coming.
Carriage Cameo 33CKQ | 08 GMC 3500HD CC LB Duramax Dually | Sam the Cat and the Labs | Best wife going
Update. We had a NON-Carriage service center repair the slides and they are working great. Carriage upheld their warranty and although we had to pay the service center directly at their request, Carriage reimbursed us in full. Note that Carriage agreed to pay the service center directly but the service center, not Carriage refused the offer. Still love our Carriage despite the slide issues and THANK YOU CARRIAGE and Roger in the Warranty department at Carriage.
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